Zoomusicology

Is this a new idea? Speculation about the musical nature of animal song goes back to ancient myths from all over the world, many of which claim that human music came from, or was inspired by, animal song. Imitations of animal songs populate traditional music from numerous cultures, and appear in some of the earliest notated music. Pieces by Vivaldi, Beethoven, and Messiaen, among others, include imitations of animal songs. More recently, North American and European ornithologists, naturalists, and philosophers from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries frequently described birdsong in musical terms. Although the word ‘ornithomusicology’ was coined in 1963 by musicologist Peter Szöke, the term ‘zoomusicology’ was fi rst introduced by composer FrançoisBernard Mâche in 1983, and popularized by musicologist Dario Martinelli. Other closely related terms include ‘biomusicology’, ‘biomusic’, and ‘ecomusicology’.